LOS ANGELES --
Dozens of wildfires burned across the torrid U.S. West on Monday, but fire agencies reported some progress in corralling the flames and forecasters predicted a gradual decrease in extreme temperatures.
The fires have forced evacuations in numerous areas with scattered homes and tiny communities where some burned houses and other structures have been observed, but total losses were still being tallied.
The fires erupted as the West was in the grip of the second bout of dangerously high temperatures in just a few weeks. And a climate change-fueled megadrought is making conditions that lead to fire even more dangerous, scientists say.